A Chinese woman has been charged with stealing six gold nuggets valued at approximately €1.5 million ($1.75 million; £1.3 million) from the Museum of Natural History in Paris. This incident occurred last month, as confirmed by French prosecutors.
The woman was apprehended in Barcelona while attempting to dispose of some melted gold and is currently in pre-trial detention. The museum, which features various collections including stuffed animals and a mineralogy gallery, was the site of the theft. Authorities reported that an angle-grinder and a blowtorch were discovered at the scene. A cyber-attack had disabled the museum’s alarm and surveillance systems prior to the incident, suggesting the thieves may have exploited this vulnerability.
Cleaners at the museum found evidence of the break-in when they arrived for work early in the morning. The woman was arrested on September 30 under a European arrest warrant and transferred to French authorities the same day. At the time of her arrest, she had about a kilogram of melted gold in her possession, and investigations continue, indicating she may have been planning to return to China.
One of the larger stolen nuggets, originally sourced from Australia, weighs 5 kilograms and is valued at approximately €585,000 based on current gold prices. Investigations have suggested that the operation was conducted by a highly organized group that was knowledgeable about the museum’s layout and security systems.
In a related context, the charges against this individual follow a separate incident where priceless crown jewels were stolen from the Louvre Museum by thieves within minutes. Reports indicate that several French museums, including both the Louvre and the Natural History Museum, have suffered thefts recently.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62ez36ndp3o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss